The family of hostage Rom Braslavski announced on Sunday that it had agreed to the release of a portion of a video published last week by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group, which shows Braslavski visibly gaunt and pleading for his life.
In the distressing footage, Braslavski appears tearful as he describes being in constant pain and says he can no longer stand or walk.
“I don’t have any more food or water,” he says. “Before, they gave me a little—today, nothing.” He explains that he survived that day on “three crumbs of falafel,” and the previous day, he had “barely a plate of rice.”
“I can’t sleep, I can’t live. You have to stop what you’re doing here,” Rom Braslavski says in the video. “I am at death’s door, and I’m certain that the other [hostages] are in the same mental state.”
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group released the six-minute clip on Thursday, claiming it had been filmed days before the group reportedly lost contact with the captors holding Braslavski. PIJ further alleged that his current condition is unknown.
However, PIJ’s past statements have frequently lacked credibility. Israeli officials have accused the group—alongside Hamas—of engaging in psychological warfare, using manipulated videos and statements to instill fear and confusion regarding the fate of hostages.
In a previous video released by PIJ in April, believed to be scripted by his captors, Braslavski described enduring “hell” and appeared visibly unwell.
On Friday, Hamas published another propaganda video, this time featuring hostage Evyatar David. The footage, approved for release by his family a day later, shows David, pale and emaciated, digging what he says he fears may be his own grave.
In a statement shared by the Hostages Families Forum, Braslavski’s mother, Tami, said that the video shows “the nightmare I was only afraid to imagine is real. The fear we live with has become more tangible than ever, and it’s important that the whole world sees this, despite my personal difficulty in publicly showing my Rom in the dire condition he’s in.”
“He’s not the Rom I know,” his mother said, her voice breaking. “I’ve never seen my son like this. He’s not shouting or angry — he speaks softly, in a frail voice, like someone who has come to terms with the idea that there’s nothing left to fight for… that he may not make it out alive.”
She continued, “My Rom, I look into your eyes and see the heartbreak, the disappointment. I hear the pain in your voice. I don’t know what the future holds, but I am doing everything I can — and I will not stop — until you are safely home.”
Rom Braslavski’s father, Ofir, spoke to Channel 12 News after it aired the latest video clip of his son. “What can I say? He’s dying,” he said. “You’re watching your son die before your eyes, and there’s nothing you can do.”
Reflecting on a previous video released by PIJ, Ofir said, “That one was also hard to watch. But he still had some hope in his eyes. Now, that seems to be gone. He looks like someone who doesn’t want to live anymore.” He added, “It’s not just the hunger—they’re torturing him. There’s no time left. He’ll die soon.”
Ofir said he spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the day before. “I told him: Rom is dying. Stop everything and give [Hamas] what they want—just get the hostages out,” he recounted. Netanyahu, he said, insisted the government was doing all it could. “But I don’t buy it,” Ofir said. “The truth is, there’s been no progress.”
Thursday’s video was the second released by Palestinian Islamic Jihad since Braslavski’s abduction nearly 22 months ago. He was kidnapped from the Nova music festival, where he had been working as a security guard. His family has shared testimonies from survivors who say Braslavski helped rescue others during the attack before being taken hostage.
Braslavski is one of the 49 hostages kidnapped during the October 7, 2023, massacre that are still being held captive in Gaza. Only 20 of the captives are thought to be alive. Hamas is also holding the body of a soldier who was killed in 2014.
Speaking in a video message on Sunday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that recent footage of two severely emaciated hostages held in Gaza underscores that Hamas has no genuine intention of reaching a hostage release agreement. Instead, he said, the videos have only strengthened his determination to destroy the terror group.
After watching the disturbing clips of hostages Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David, Netanyahu stated, “I understand exactly what Hamas wants. It doesn’t want a deal. It wants to break us — with these horrifying videos, with the false horror propaganda it spreads across the world.”
Addressing the Israeli public, the prime minister said he was “shocked” by the footage and had spoken personally with the hostages’ families. “While the hostages are wasting away in a dungeon,” he said, “the Hamas monsters surrounding them — they have thick, fleshy arms. They have everything they need to eat. They are starving them the way the Nazis starved the Jews.”
“But we will not break,” he vowed. “I am filled with even greater determination to free our captive sons, to eliminate Hamas, and to ensure that Gaza will never again pose a threat to Israel.”
Earlier on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to take immediate steps to ensure that hostages held in Gaza receive food and medical care. His appeal came during a conversation with Julien Lerisson, head of the ICRC delegation in the region.
Following the call, the ICRC reiterated its demand for access to the hostages, stating that they “must urgently receive the medical care and attention they require.”
In a public statement, the ICRC added that it was “appalled by the harrowing videos published over the last few days of Israeli hostages held in captivity in Gaza.”
“These videos are stark evidence of the life-threatening conditions in which the hostages are being held,” the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement. “We know that families watching these videos are horrified and heartbroken by the conditions in which they see their loved ones.”
The ICRC emphasized that the hostages must be “afforded humane treatment and acceptable conditions,” and called for their immediate access to medical care and attention.
“As long as hostages remain in captivity, we stand ready to fulfill our role as a neutral humanitarian intermediary and to facilitate the release of all hostages at any stage,” the statement continued.
The organization also reiterated its urgent call to be granted access to the hostages. “We need to assess their condition, provide them with medical support, and help them reestablish contact with their families,” the ICRC said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has not been granted access to the hostages held in Gaza throughout the 22 months of war, drawing sharp criticism from Israel and Jewish organizations for its inability to secure such access. The ICRC, which maintains that strict neutrality is essential to its operations in conflict zones, previously facilitated the release of Israeli and other foreign hostages in November 2023 and again in early 2025.
In response to the ICRC’s recent statement, the Al-Qassam Brigades—the armed wing of Hamas—said it is “prepared to positively engage” with any Red Cross request to deliver food and medicine to hostages it refers to as “enemy prisoners,” on the condition that Israel opens humanitarian corridors.
The group’s spokesperson, Hudhaifa Kahlout, known by the nom de guerre Abu Obeida, said access would be allowed only if Israel permits the regular and sustained flow of aid throughout the Gaza Strip and halts all aerial activity during the times designated for the delivery of aid to prisoners.
“The Al-Qassam Brigades do not deliberately starve the prisoners,” he claimed, “but they eat what our fighters and the general public eat. They will not receive any special privileges while our people face starvation and siege.”
Israel has denied reports of widespread starvation in the Gaza Strip, placing the blame on both the United Nations and Hamas for obstructing and diverting humanitarian aid deliveries.
According to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, 175 people — including 93 children — have died from malnutrition-related causes since the war began. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported 63 such deaths in the month of July alone, including 25 children, all but one of whom were under the age of five.
These figures, however, cannot be independently verified due to limitations on access and transparency in the territory.
Last week, Israel introduced 10-hour daily humanitarian pauses in populated areas of Gaza and significantly increased the volume of aid allowed into the enclave. It remains unclear whether Hamas’s conditions for allowing Red Cross access to hostages — including the establishment of continuous aid corridors and a halt to Israeli aerial activity — are operationally or politically feasible for Israel.
